The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the addition of nine PFAS substances to the list of those covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (or TRI), bringing the total number of TRI-listed PFAS substances to 205. The inclusion comes as a result of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which provided framework for the automatic inclusion of PFAS substances each year following EPA activities involving PFAS substances.
Manufacturing facilities who process or use TRI-listed chemicals above specified limits are required each year to report TRI data including environmental discharge and other waste metrics for TRI-listed chemicals. The data collected through TRI allows communities and individuals to better understand how facilities in their area are managing TRI-listed chemicals, allowing for more informed decision making.
“EPA continues to make strides in getting information on PFAS into the Toxics Release Inventory so the public can see if these chemicals are being released into their communities,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff in recent agency press release. “People have a right to know when facilities in their backyards are releasing toxic chemicals into the environment and with today’s action, we are providing important information about nine more.”
The 2020 NDAA contains a provision which automatically includes new PFAS substances upon agency finalization of a toxicity value. As a result, for the 2025 reporting year, nine new PFAS substances were included after a toxicity value was finalized during the 2024 reporting year.
The nine new substances include:
- Ammonium perfluorodecanoate (PFDA NH4)
- Sodium perfluorodecanoate (PFDA-Na)
- Perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid
- 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate acid
- 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate anion
- 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate potassium salt
- 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate ammonium salt
- 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate sodium salt
- Acetic acid, [(γ-ω-perfluoro-C8-10-alkyl)thio] derivs., Bu esters
As of January 1st, facilities who are subject to reporting will be required to begin tracking their activities involving these new PFAS substances.